


Scars, Bandaids, And Affection

by strawberryTala



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Polyamory, Developing Relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Minor Injuries, Polyamory, Pre-Relationship, Scars, Sparring, Yugo cares a lot about his friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25498201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberryTala/pseuds/strawberryTala
Summary: Serena woke up one day and realised she wanted a sparring partner. After asking around and many backing away upon finding out her goal, she was directed to Rin.Rin was the better fighter of the two of them, Yugo said. Yugo, however, didn't like fighting.Serena didn't know why he always came to watch.
Relationships: Rin/Serena/Yugo
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	Scars, Bandaids, And Affection

**Author's Note:**

> I hereby name these three Tideshipping
> 
> Because the tides are affected by the moon and wind, while the ocean can be the same colour as Yugo's eyes. All three also have a colour that can match the different colours the sea can be.
> 
> Hope ya enjoy (ovo)/

* * *

On a beautiful, sunny day, when the wind was still and the weather was pleasantly warm, a fight was occurring.

A loud thwap rang out in the usually peaceful courtyard. A yell followed, a sharp smack sounding soon after. Dust flew up as feet skid and stepped quickly or stomped hard, the ground stained with sweat and even a few drops of blood.

Serena stumbled back after a particularly hard hit to her shoulder. She quickly dodged to the side as another hit came at her. Grabbing the outstretched appendage, she turned and heaved the body of her opponent over her shoulder, intending to slam them into the dirt.

Instead, they quickly regain their balance, crouched down low and kicks out their leg straight at Serena’s own. She jumps back with the slightest stumble, glaring as her opponent rose up.

Rin smirked, sweat making her wispy hair stick to her face and neck. She wiped away some blood from under her nose before lifting her closed fists in front of her. She stepped lightly, keeping her body moving in preparation for any coming strikes.

Serena grunts, placing her feet apart in a stance and readying her fists. It was a more proper fighting stance, taught to her at Academia by instructors, in comparison to Rin’s looser, sloppy stance that made it hard to predict where she would aim next.

They move slowly in a circle around each other, staring the other down and waiting for the moment the other makes a move or an opening presents itself.

Their eyes narrow and, at once, they fly forward, fists drawn back. They shoot forward and hit their target at the same time, both their faces whipping to the side as a fist plants itself on the side of both their faces.

They tumble hard to the ground with a grunt, breathing hard as they lay sprawled in the dirt. A silence spreads over the courtyard, birds tweeting and their pants the only sound as an almost cathartic emotion passes by.

“...Are you done?”

Serena and Rin turn their heads, to where the ground ended and soft grass began.

Yugo's eyes are peeking out at them through his fingers, sat cross-legged on the soft mat of green. Next to him, a small pile consisting of towels, water bottles and a first aid kit was placed.

Serena sighs and Rin snickers as they both sit up, wincing as the aches set in now that the adrenaline is fading.

“If it’s that hard, don’t sit and watch,” Serena mutters, standing up and brushing herself off.

Yugo winces, shoulders lowering with a pout. “But…”

“Hey, no need to be so harsh,” Rin says, brushing away strands of hair stuck to her face. “If Yugo wants to watch, he can. It’s not like he’s a bother.”

Serena scowls but doesn’t say anything, only crossing her arms and turning away with a huff. Rin huffs a laugh in amusement while Yugo only looks at them uncertainly.

It was tradition by this point, yet no one made any move to change it. Not just yet.

“Do you guys really need to hit so hard?” Yugo asks later as he’s cleaning Rin’s knuckles, dirty and red with blood and dust.

Serena scoffs, sitting cross-legged next to them as they formed a wonky triangle. “It wouldn’t be a spar if we went easy on each other.”

Yugo frowns a little. “Yeah but-”

“It’s fine, Yugo, we can handle it,” Rin reassures him, even patting his head for good measure with her cleaned hand. “And if we don’t, then you’ll be here to patch us up like you always do, right?”

Yugo brightens up, smiling wide like he’d been praised instead of directed away from the topic. “Yeah!”

Serena gives him a disbelieving look. She watches as Yugo pulls out a box of small bandages and starts putting them over the small cuts and scrapes on Rin’s long fingers. An exaggeration in Serena’s eyes, a couple scratches was nothing necessary to wrap up.

Emerald green eyes watch silently, chin in her hand, as Yugo is the one who fusses for once, Rin humouring him with an easy smile on her face. So different to the proud, almost mocking one she wore during their spars, or the cold front when she concentrated and got serious. It was a weird look on her and Serena wasn’t sure what to really think about it.

A Yugo who was worried and flustered was weird too. She wasn’t used to seeing him take care of someone, with clumsy hands that gripped a bit hard and put on rumpled and misaligned bandaids. Yet they were kind, as careful as they could be, like when he tinkered with their new D-Wheel.

Seeing them like this, sat close and comfortable like old friends, casual touches given and taken like it was natural, filled her with a strange longing. A cavity in her chest area that she absently scratched at in a vain attempt to rid herself of the unpleasant feeling.

“Serena, your turn!”

She snaps out of her daze, realising Yugo is looking at her, a determined expression on his face that reminded her more of the seriousness he displayed during duels. Next her eyes found the first aid kit resting on his lap.

Stubbornly, she shakes her head. “No. I don’t need that nonsense.”

Yugo slumps a little. “But-”

“I’m used to a few bruises and cuts, this is nothing.”

In reality, she didn’t like the fussing. Being treated like she was made of porcelain held in gloved hands. That had always been the case in Academia, never allowed to push her limits unless she forced it herself, the slightest injury treated like a broken bone. Hiding aches and injuries became second habit, all so she would be allowed to train longer, harder, without being confined to her room. The one time her ankle had twisted and sprained she’d been locked up for three months before she was even allowed back to mild training.

Serena didn’t want it. She didn’t need bandaids over her cuts, damp cotton balls cleaning her dirty scrapes, calloused yet gentle hands hovering over her insignificant injuries like it was something to be worried over.

A hand clamped down on her shoulder and making Serena jump. Rin takes a seat to her left on the grass and Serena didn’t even hear or notice her moving closer. “Just sit back and let someone take care of you for once. You’re not gonna die.”

Serena is about to protest when she makes the mistake of looking at Yugo, who’s doing his best impression of a kicked puppy, eyes wide and sad and staring right at her. Serena almost flinches back at the sorrow radiating off him, like he has been denied the greatest joy’s in life, or maybe a good petting.

Serena looks away, stubbornly holding onto her resolve. “No. I don’t need it.”

Either she was seeing things or sparkles were appearing around Yugo’s eyes as they turned more downtrodden, lips twisting unhappily. His chin almost touched his chest and his shoulders slump, looking down at the grass between them. You could almost see a pair of ears on his head folding inwards and a tail curling around him in misery.

With a loud, irritated sigh that made Yugo and Rin look at her, Serena holds out her hands. “Just make it quick.”

Yugo looks at her in shock for a long moment, mouth hanging open before a wide smile spreads over his face. “You got it!!”

He scoots closer and grabs one of her hands, starting to wipe away grime and dust from her skin. The stinging she had successfully ignored until now reared its head over being touched.

Yugo was nothing like the nurses at Academia. He didn’t coo at her, didn’t look at her with pitying yet stern eyes that seemed to claim she had done something wrong. He didn’t stop every five seconds to ask if it hurt, he stopped when she flinched and continued when she nodded. His hands weren’t silky smooth and they had no cold, slippery gloves on. Instead of an attendant standing guard near the door like she was a prisoner, Rin was sprawled on the grass to the side of them, leaning back on her hands and watching them silently.

She also had an unbelievably smug smirk on her face, as if she knew Serena would give in. She gives her best pissy look at her but the girl only smiles wider.

“I still don’t understand why you bother,” Serena says, looking away. “It doesn’t heal better by putting a bandaid on.”

“Well, not always,” Yugo says haltingly. “But it makes doing stuff a bit easier for a little, until you can remove it.”

Rin hums in agreement, closing her eyes and bending her head back to let the sun warm her skin. “Plus, getting dirt into the wounds when they’re fresh only makes it take longer to heal, and if you get an infection it takes even longer.”

Yugo nods furiously, jostling the hand still held in his own. “Yeah! That too!”

Serena frowns, watching in silence as Yugo wraps bandaids around her fingers and on her hands. They ended up creased more often than not and most were a bit too big compared to the size of the actual scrapes. He even put one on her forehead, tongue sticking out as he puts it on, cool fingers brushing against her skin. “I’m fine. I’ve never gotten an infection in my life.”

“Lucky,” Rin says, still looking up at the blue sky above them. “Not the point though.”

Serena blinks. “Huh?”

“Is it that hard to think we’re concerned for you?” Rin asks, tilting her head to her and cracking open one eye that pierces into Serena’s soul. “Yugo’s so frazzled because two people he likes are duking it out and getting hurt.”

“H-hey!” Yugo croaks, pink colouring his cheeks as he finished up, dropping the box of bandaids before he was able to put it back in the box.

Rin merely shrugs one shoulder. “Either way, it’s nice to be able to take care of aches and injuries when you can.”

Rin sits up straighter, bright amber eyes avert and darken a shade, looking somewhere far away from here. A hand moves to rub at her upper arm, seemingly without noticing, but Serena does. The same one Rin tucks away, not straining it if she doesn’t have to.

It’s the same one with a big, circular scar wrapped around the skin, like something claw-shaped had grabbed her arm, the tissue ugly and marred from not healing properly. It made her thoughts wander to Yugo’s lower arm, to the long, ugly, crooked scar that ran over the top all the way to his wrist, usually hidden by his riding duel glove but just as badly healed as Rin’s.

Once, Serena thought scars were a mark of pride. A sign of honour, that you had withstood a tough battle and lived to tell the tale with your chest held high, or to seek revenge the next time you faced your opponent. She had figured the same with the one on Rin’s arm, and Yugo's, for you didn’t get something like that from a mechanic accident.

_“Oh, this? I got it four years ago. Some duelist who in hindsight was probably drunk challenged me and tried to use one of those duel ropes and ended up missing completely. Wrapped around my arm instead, hurt like a bitch for months.”_

_“Huh, my arm? Just some challenger who wanted, uuhhh, I think our D-Wheel parts? The guy missed though and cut open my arm. Hurt a lot for months and it took aaaages to heal. Think I was eleven or something?”_

A sign of battle. If it was honourable or not was a completely different question.

And Serena had decided to cast away all that Academia had taught.

“...Fine. I suppose I can… let myself be looked after sometimes.”

It’s said slowly and with difficulty, the words a bit like chewing glass. But from the way Rin’s smile turns genuine and proud and how Yugo lights up like a full moon in the night, it felt worth it.

“Yeah!” Yugo cheers, throwing his arms around Serena in a familiar way, but he wasn’t smacked away for his efforts this time.

“Hey! Get off!!” Serena barks instead, pushing at the boy. It appeared halfhearted, for anyone who knew her would know she could easily get Yugo off her if she _really_ wanted to.

Rin laughs, the sound magical and filling the backyard with its beautiful tone. Yugo joins in, more subdued than normal and more like pleased giggling, and Serena could feel the vibrations in his body.

Serena sighs, wondering if it was a mistake to get closer to both of them. Yet as Yugo talked and got comfortable against her side, arms still around her and started to sway, pulling her along in the calming motion and Rin scooted closer and threw her legs over Serena’s lap as a reassuring weight, she found she didn’t really mind.

The warmth that spread through her from them both was weird and new, but not bad. The hole in her chest quickly filled up, to where she thought it would overflow as they bathed in sunshine and talked the afternoon away.

* * *

“How do you handle the puppy eyes, Rin?”

“I don’t. You go along with him when he gets like that, less you want to feel like the scum of the earth.”

“......”

“I knew you’d give in. You can’t resist those eyes, no one can.”

“Shut up.”

* * *


End file.
